Deputy President of Russia's Development Bank: Bitcoin is the only successful blockchain in the world

In the past few months, there has been a huge shift in the views of Russian politicians and bankers on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency solutions. On February 21, Nikita Smirnov, deputy governor of the Russian state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank, expressed some positive views on the digital currency Bitcoin. In fact, Smirnov said that the Bitcoin network is the only "successful" blockchain technology.

A new philosophical concept

Russia’s relationship with digital currencies has always been confusing, with some Russian bureaucrats believing that Bitcoin is used for criminal activities over the past few years. In addition, in the past, Russian authorities have also blocked Bitcoin-related websites such as BTC-e and Localbitcoins. However, it seems that Russian politicians and bankers are slowly changing their views on Bitcoin. Recently, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev told the public that “Bitcoin is not a threat,” while Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is also a strong supporter of blockchain technology.

Now, the deputy president of Russia’s famous state-owned development bank has stated in an interview with local media Kommersant that “Bitcoin has many advantages.” In addition, Smirnov believes that Bitcoin has an indisputable network effect.

“Bitcoin is the only widely adopted blockchain technology in the world today,” Smirnov explained. “It’s been around for several years, and people have tried to crack it, but no one has succeeded so far. So, right now if you ask if there is another algorithm that has built its own solution to the distributed consensus problem, the answer is probably no.”

“The only successful solution to this problem right now is Bitcoin.”

The Russian Development Bank also manages the country's debt and pensions with the Russian government. The bank was founded in 1922 and has grown significantly over the past few years as a progressive "Russian Development Bank." Smirnov's views may not represent the official position of the bank, but may push the bank to further study Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency.

“[Bitcoin] is really a new philosophical concept that is not yet well understood,” Smirnov said at the end of the interview.